Automatic indicating weighing mechanism.



W. A. BENTON.

AUTOMATIC INDICATING WEIGHING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED DEC. n. 1915.

Patented May 29, 1917.

A 27660 raeag WILLIAM ALFRED BENTON, O1 BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.

AUTOMATIC INDICATING- WEIGrI-IING MECHANISM.

Application filed December 17, 1915.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM ALFRED BEN- TON, subject of the King ofGreat Britain, residing at 5 Grosvenor Chambers, Broad street corner,Birmingham, in the county of lVarwick, England, have invented certainnew and useful Improvements in Automatic Indicating Weighing Mechanisms,of which the following is a specification.

The invention relates to a class of automatic scale or weighingmechanism in which the action of the load causes the weight pan to riseand take up suitably suspended weights until the load is balanced.

In connection with this class of weighing mechanism the inventionprovides a particular arrangement by which the fractional portion of theload, in excess of the number of the weight units lifted by the load, isweighed and the total amount of the weighing indicated on a dial, andalso a particular arrangement of weight units and manner of bringingthem into effective operation.

The invention will be clearly understood by the description hereinafterappearing with reference to the accompanying drawings representing by-Figure l a side elevation of the machine less the inclosing casing, by

Fig. 2 a front elevation part section of Fig. 1, by-

Figs. 3 and 4: side views of details, and by- Fig. 5 a plan view ofdetails.

The main weighing beam or is divided so that the load pan w is carriedby the shorter arm, 6, and the weight pan 6 by the longer arm 3 whicharms have a ratio in respect of each other as 1 to 5.

The fulcrum of this beam is at h, and the knife edge fulcrum between theweight pan and the beam is at 2'. Rigidly attached to the weight pan 6by the standards f is a dial '0 which moves up and down with said weightpan. Said beam a and the parts it carries are balanced to restindiiferently in any position.

An equal armed and delicately balanced weight carrying beam 0 issupported on the fulcrum knife edge 0i, and two series of weights, allof equal vmagnitude, are suspended from said beam, one series from eachend 7" and w, in such manner that both series of weights are above saidweight pan 6.

The weights are indicated by the numerals 1 to 10, themes 1, 3, 5, 7,and 9 forming Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 29, 191'7.

Serial No. 67,470.

one series, and hanging from the end r of the beam 0, and the ones 2, 4,6, 8, and 10 forming the other series and hanging from the end a: ofsaid beam, said weights being suspended so that their bases 7 are atdifferent distances from the weight pan. 0. Frames 9 g serve for theefficient suspension of the weights from the beam ends.

The suspension arrangement for each weight from the frame 9 is by a roda supported on a pivot a rocking in a suitable recess or nest of a crossbar a of said frame, each rod having at its lower end a button 6 andbeing counter-balanced as regards its own weight and the weight of thebutton by a perpendicular weighted arm m The rod a holds up theparticular weight (each weight is hollow) by the button I) engagingagainst the underside f of the top of said weight. When the weight panrises to lift the weight the suspension rod a is frictionally free ofsaid weight, as shown by Fig. 4. The stem 0 of the weight is always freein a narrow slot 6 of the weight pan. Fig. 3 pended by the rod a Asregards the two series of suspended weights the weight carrying beam 0is equally loaded and exactly balanced. Each weight taken up by theweight pan 0 will. exactly balance one weight unit of load on the loadpan w. The weighing machine shown is a ten pound capacity one, eachweight representing one pound.

The weight carrying beam 0 is so posi tioned with regard to a lever 0fulcrumed on the knife edge 3) that a hollow counter weight m, hangingby the rod end 2 from a knife edge, a, on said lever, may fall upon arigid table Q of one of the frames 9 to raise the other end of saidlever 0 which lever is connected by straps x to an arm 25 of a pendulumbalance, Z1, working on the knife edge, .2, and carrying the pointer to.When the counter weight We hangs the pendulum balance 7c is raised toits highest position as shown in the drawings to offer its maximumresistance, the entire lever system 0 being in a state of equilibriumwith the pointer a giving zero indication on the dial 1;. The counterweight m, when the pointer is in such position, does not quite touch thetable 0 and the lowest weight 1 does not quite touch the weight pan 6.If a load be now placed on the load pan to it will cause the weight pan6 to lift the Weight 1 and disturb shows how a weight is sustheequilibrium of the pendulum balance 76 by lifting the counter weight m.To this lifting action the pendulum counter-weight h presents agradually decreasing resistance until the counter weight m has beenentirely lifted and the pendulum it hangs free in its lowest position.is exactly equal in weight to each of the suspended weights the weightcarrying beam 0 will again be in equilibrium although the weight pan hasrisen to approach the base of the weight 2, whose base will now be but alittle distance away from said weight pan. The pointer will in themeantime have moved over the dial on the line r to indicate one pound.If the load on the load pan w is as yet imbalanced the weight pan 6 willcontinue to lift and the hanging weight 2 will be lifted in turn, butnot until the weight pan 0 has traversed the small space existingbetween it and the base of the hanging weight 2, which traversecontinues the lift of the dial. so that by the time the weight 2 isactually lifted the pointer will take up a position at the right handextremity of the indication line 71 on the dial. The moment the weightpan begins to lift the weight 2 the equilibrium of the weight carryingbeam 0 will again be disturbed and the end 1" of said beam, stillsupporting the counter weight m, will begin to fall causing an instantreaction on the counter weight pendulum system is, until the whole ofthe counter weight on acts upon the pendulum resistant when the pointeru will have moved back over the dial along the line 11 to indicate twopounds.

The other members of the two series of hanging weights are taken upalternately by the gradual rising of the weight pan 0, the lowest weightlifted always acting in coordination with the counter weight pendulumsystem 76 so that the fractional portion of the load is weighed throughthe latter; it following, from the fact that the movements of the weightcarrying beam 0 are in a sense controlled by the counter weight pendulumsystem 7 1, that a point of equilibrium exists for any load on the loadpan up to the limits of the machines capacity.

In the operation of the machine the dial o will always be raised inproportion to the load on the load pan 10. If a maximum load begradually built up by the continued addition of minute increments thedial 1) will be gradually raised and the pointer a will gradually moveto and fro across the dial '1) to always take up a position indicativeof the true load, and to always indicate the correct number of units ofload whenever the pointer is at either end of its to and fro movementacross the dial. In this position of the pointer, a negligible incrementof load causes a vertical movement ofthe dial before the pointerreverses its motion, which As the counter weight mvertical movement isdue to the tact that at the moment when the weight of the counter weight'm/has been entirely taken on the counter weight table Q the weightpan 0 must ascend a short distance before it comes into contact with thenext hanging weight, during which movement the scale beam is notencountering any resistance, the weight carrying beam being inequilibrium. Similar conditions apply to the return movement of theweight carrying beam 0, nan'iely, during the moment following that inwhich the entire weight of the counter weight on has been caused toaffect the pendulum.

The unit figures are placed at the turning points of the zig-zag track,and may be colored to correspoml with the fractional traverse to whichthey belong. Thus, if the .3 lbs. division mark and its accompanyingnumber are blue the fractional track bctwccn the 6 lbs. and 7 lbs.division marks may also be colored blue. A window in the casing may beappropriately shaped to show only that portion of the tract necessaryfor correct reading. and a i'lirection may be put upon the casing insome such terms as these in the case of counter scalcs: When the pointeris between two pound divisions always read the lower pound; when thepointer is between two ounce divisions always read the lower ouncenumber. Arrows may be placed near the track on alternate traverses toindicate the direction of increase of weight values in the indications.

Having nowdescribed my invention what I claim and desire to secure byLetters Patent is ljAn automatic weighing mechanism, comprising a loadreceiver, a weight-pan, means whereby said weight-pan is adapted to beraised and lowered by the load receiver, a dial, means connecting thedial to the weight-pan whereby the dial is movable with the weight-pan,a plurality of balanced weights arranged to be successively lifted bythe movement of said weight-pan and thereby disturb the balance of saidweights, balancing means supporting said weights, counter-weight meanscooperating with the balanced weights to restore the balance of saidweights, and a pointer cooperating with the dial. and having anoperative connection with the counter-weight means whereby the pointeris ope 'ated to indicate upon the dial the weight on the load receiver.

2. An automatic weighing mechanism, comprising, a load receiver, aweight-pan adapted to be raised and lowered by the load receiver, adial, means connecting the dial to the weight-pan whereby the dial ismovable with the weight-pan, a plurality of balanced weights arranged tobe successively lifted by the rise of the weight-pan thereby disturbingthe balance of said weights, balancing means supporting said weights, anindicating pointer arranged to cooperate with the dial, and balancedcounter-Weight means independent of said first mentioned balancedweights and arranged to operate to restore at all times the balance ofthe latter weights, said counter-weight means having a connec tion withsaid pointer for operating the latter to indicate upon the dial theWeight on the load receiver.

3. An automatic weighing mechanism, comprising, a scale beam, a loadreceiver on said scale beam, a weight-pan on the scale beam andadaptedto be raised and lowered by the load receiver, a dial, means connectingthe dial'to the weight-pan whereby the former is movable with thelatter, a balanced weight beam, a plurality of weights of equal weightsupported from each end of said beam, said weights being arranged sothat the weights. on each end of said beam are successively lifted inalternation by the weight-pan thereby disturbing the balance of theweight beam, balanced counter-weight means arranged to be effected bythe position of said weight beam and to restore the latter to itsbalanced position, and a pointer arranged to cooperate with the dial andactuated by the movement of said counter-weight means to indicate uponthe dial the weight on said load receiver.

4%.. An automatic weighing mechanism, comprising, a load receiver, aweight-pan adapted to be raised and lowered by the load receiver, adial, means connecting the dial to the weight-pan for rendering the dialmovable with the weight-pan, a plurality of balanced weights arranged tobe alternately and successively engaged and lifted by the weight-panwhen a load is on the load received thereby disturbing the balance ofsaid weights, a balanced counter-weight means cooperating with saidfirst mentioned balanced weights to restore at all times the balance ofthe latter, and a pointer to cooperate with said dial to indicate theweight on said load receiver and actuated by the movement of saidcounter-weight means to move over said dial, said first mentionedweights being arranged relatively to the weight-pan to permitan idlelift of the dial previous to the lift of each succeeding weight.

5. An automatic weighing mechanism, comprising a scale beam, a loadreceiver on one end of the scale beam and a weight-pan on the other endthereof, a balancing weight beam, a plurality of weights of equal weightsupported from each end of the weight beam, the weights on each end ofthe weight beam being arranged to be successively lifted from the beamin alternation by the weight-pan to disturb the equilibrium of saidbeam, a third balancing beam, a counter-balancing means carried by oneend of said third beam, means associated with one end of the weight beamand cooperative with said counter-balancing means to at all timesrestore the balance of said weights, a dial, a pointer cooperating withsaid dial to indicate the Weight on the load receiver, and meansassociated with the other end of said third beam whereby relativemovement is imparted to the pointer and the dial by the movement of saidcounter-balancing means.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand in presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM ALFRED BENTON. lVitnesses:

GEO. FUERY,

D. LEAKER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G.

